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12/20/2012

Free Speech Brief in the New Mexico Supreme Court

On Monday on behalf of Mike Dorf and myself, I filed an Amici Curiae brief in the New Mexico
Supreme Court and a motion describing our interest and why we believed the
motion would assist the Court. The case involves a photography business (co-owned
by a conservative Christian couple) that refused to photograph a same-sex
commitment ceremony on religious and public policy grounds. Elane Photography, L.L.C. v. Willock.
New Mexico law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The
company argues that it has not violated the law and that, if it has, the law’s
application to it violates free speech and freedom of religion rights. Elane Photography lost before the New Mexico
Human Rights Commission and in the New Mexico Court of Appeals. Our brief
speaks exclusively to the free speech issue. It argues that free speech is not
violated in this context and that even stronger arguments support Willock’s
position than were employed by the Court below.